Hi Dental fans! On reddit a few weeks ago, someone wanted to know what were the different
dental filling options that are available, and what are the pros and cons of each option.
I thought that would make a good dental video, so in this video I’m going to talk about
the five different dental filling options.
Hi, I’m Dr. Rich, a general dentist with over twenty years of experience. On this channel
I teach you about dentistry and teeth so that you can have a very nice smile. I post new
videos weekly, so if you are interested in teeth and how to fix them, please hit the
subscribe button. Most people know that there are two types
of dental fillings, silver fillings and white fillings. While these are the most common
types of fillings, did you know that there are three more filling options available?
I’m going to break the types of fillings down into 2 categories, direct fillings and
indirect fillings. Direct fillings are fillings that are made
in your mouth. Indirect fillings are fillings that are made outside of your mouth, and then
cemented onto your tooth in your mouth. Direct fillings are usually quicker to place
and cost less than indirect fillings. Indirect fillings, while usually more expensive,
may last longer, and will usually have a better shape especially if the filling is a large
filling. There are three types of direct fillings that
are used in dentistry, white fillings, silver fillings, and gold foil fillings.
The most common filling option these days is a white filling. They are made out of a
plastic material called composite resin. This type of filling has become very popular
in recent years because when it’s placed well, you can’t tell you have a filling
in your tooth. Since it’s made in your mouth, it only takes one visit to place.
The pros of white filling are that it looks like a tooth, it bonds to your tooth so the hole
for the filling doesn’t need to be as big as for a silver filling, and it can be done
in one visit. The cons are it takes longer to place than
a silver filling, the tooth has to be kept very dry for the glue to work, and they may
not last as long as a silver filling. The second most popular type of filling is
a silver filling. These work very well but have lost some of their popularity due to
how they look. No matter how well it’s placed, it’s still silver in color. Also, since
silver fillings aren’t bonded to your tooth, the cavity needs to be shaped so that it is
wider at the base and narrower at the top to lock the filling into place.
Another issue people have is that there is mercury in silver fillings. The FDA recently
recommended that silver fillings not be placed in children, pregnant women, and people with
certain medical conditions. I’ll leave a link to the FDA announcement down in the description
below. The pros of silver fillings are that they
are quick and easy to place, and they can potentially last a really long time. I have
silver fillings in my mouth that were placed over 35 years ago and they are still holding
up. The last type of direct filling is a gold
foil filling. This type of filling is rare to see nowadays.
It consists of small pieces of pure gold that get cold welded together in your tooth to
form a filling. Cold welding happens when the pieces of gold
are hammered together. In the early days of dentistry, dentists would use a small hammer,
called a mallet, to hammer the gold by hand. Later, electric powered mallets called electro-mallets
were used. I know the dentist I bought my office from used to place gold foil fillings
because I found a couple of old electro-mallets in the storage room of the office.
I never learned how to place a gold foil filling. I graduated dental school in 1997 and my class
was the first class not to be taught the technique. There are still dentists around who know how
to place gold foils, but I don’t think many of them still use the technique.
So that covers the three types of direct fillings. The second category, indirect fillings, consists
of two types either white fillings or gold fillings. Another name for indirect fillings
are inlays or onlays depending on how big they are.
The white colored indirect fillings are usually made of porcelain or composite resin. Gold
indirect fillings are made out of a gold alloy. The pros are that because the filling is made
outside of your mouth, it is easier to make it the proper shape. Sometimes it’s very
difficult to shape a filling properly inside your mouth. Porcelain and gold both tend to
be much stronger materials than composite resin.
The downside is that these types of fillings usually take two visits to place. Usually
a mold is made of the tooth and a dental lab will make the filling.
Although since the invention of in office milling machines, some dental offices can
make indirect porcelain fillings while you wait, so it only takes one visit.
Indirect gold fillings usually need to be made by a dental lab.
Due to their color, not many dentists place the gold fillings anymore but when they are done well,
they are arguably the longest lasting type of filling.
If you are interested in learning more about gold inlays and onlays, either as a patient
or as a dentist, check out the Tucker Study Club website. I’ll leave a link to it down
in the description. So those are the five different types of dental
fillings that are used to fix teeth. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment
below. Thanks very much for watching and see you
in the next video.